Compact Beam Director for Submarine-based High Energy Laser (HEL)

Optical Physics Company (OPC) is proposing to develop an innovative transmissive beam director which can meet the challenging size and performance requirements of the submarine platform. An ordinary beam director that fits into the volume specified would be limited to a 13-15 cm aperture. The transmissive OPC design allows for a 30 cm transmit aperture to enable four times the brightness and double the lethal range using only about 55% of the allocated volume on the Universal Modular Mast (UMM). Accurate tracking, short acquisition time, wavefront correction, and long burn time are built-in features of the beam director. The design builds on and leverages multiple ongoing projects at OPC, including submicroradian closed loop boresight sensing, beaconless wavefront control and wrinkle proof deformable mirrors. During the base Phase I effort OPC will perform a trade study and select a baseline design with Navy TPOC participation. The design feasibility, targeting capability, and performance estimates regarding wavefront correction and jitter control will be proven by simulation and analytic studies. During the Phase I option effort a Phase II prototype design and manufacturing plan will be formulated. The Phase I option will end with a Preliminary Design Review (PDR).